May 7, 2004
The Pious Priests and Deacons
of the Holy Metropolis
of Denver
Beloved in the Lord,
Christ is Risen!
You are a priest unto the ages, according to the order of
Melchizedek.
(Psalm 109:4)
I have recently heard a number of troubling reports, from both the laity and from brother clergy, of behavior by some of our brotherhood that is not in keeping with the high dignity granted to us upon our ordination to the sacred diaconate and the holy priesthood.
At our ordinations, we were set apart from the laity. Although unworthy, because "we have done nothing good upon the earth" (Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil), the divine grace, which always heals that which is infirm and completes that which is lacking, elevated us to the orders of the High Priesthood of our Lord, God, and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Clergy therefore do not stand among the laity in the Divine Services, but in a place apart, usually within the Holy of Holies, attending faithfully and providing a good example to the faithful who look up to us as models and exemplars of the faith.
Ordination is not something that pertains to us merely when we are at the Divine Services or in the church, but at all times during our brief life upon this earth, and unto the ages in the eternal and hoped-for Kingdom of God.
At all times and in every place we are priests of the Most-High God, and our behavior must constantly and consistently reflect this reality. Those who for good reason can no longer stand before the faithful and serve at the Holy Altar are "deposed," or officially acknowledged as standing among the laity rather than among the clergy. In colloquial English we speak of such clergy as "defrocked," or as having been stripped of their normative clerical attire.
In view of these realities, I am bewildered and mystified to learn that some of the clergy of this holy Metropolis, men whom I thought I knew well, have effectively removed the "veil" of the priesthood and comport themselves as though they stand among the laity.
I have heard of clergy being seen in public by their parishioners dressed in shorts and a tee-shirt. I have heard of clergy in bars and pool halls, not bearing the example of Christ who ate among sinners to bring them out of their fallen state, but languishing among those drinking, smoking, and engaging in idle pastimes. I have heard of clergy been seen riding through the city on a motorcycle, dressed in a tee-shirt exposing tattoos upon his body. I have heard of clergy being seen after the Divine Liturgy smoking a cigarette, thereby fouling in their mouths the sweet taste of the life-giving Mysteries that minutes before touched their lips, taking away their transgressions. I have heard of clergy dancing with their parishioners, to the melodies and according to the dance styles of contemporary rock and roll which you well know is sensual and sexual in its content and expression.
I have also heard of clergy attending and endorsing parish gatherings at which excessive drinking by a few was blatant and ignored. I have heard that some clergy have not preached and taught the faithful that suggestive, tight, and revealing clothing is totally inappropriate at any church event. I have heard that of clergy ignoring or tolerating scandalous behavior, such as women taking men's neckties and auctioning them back as a fundraising technique. Worse, I have heard of the priest's collar being removed and auctioned back to him.
I have heard of clergy who have taken their parish council men fishing on a weekend, and thus fail to attend the Sunday Divine Liturgy; in one egregious case, a pastor gave of the reserved Sacrament to the men after a few prayers as though this somehow equated with participation at the Divine Liturgy. I hear also of clergy who do not attend the Divine Liturgy on Sundays when they are "on vacation," as though the priesthood were a job or a career like any other in the world. I have heard of priests who discourage the faithful from asking their blessing and kissing their hand upon greeting them. I have heard lay people addressing the priest as "honey" or "dear" or "sweetie" in total ignorance of the priestly dignity he bears. Rather than venerating the hand of the priest, I see people embracing and kissing him as though he were a familiar relation, rather than an Icon of Christ.
Sadly I have also heard of clergy who publicly berate their children and even their presvytera, and in private are abusive towards them. Who more closely and intimately sees the priest and looks up to him for an example of Christ-like love, patience, and meekness than your wives and children? We all know of the children of clergy who when emancipated from the family have little or nothing to do with the Church because of the hypocrisy they perceived in their fathers, and perhaps among other clergy and leaders in the Church.
All these things I have heard about are not merely scandals to the faithful, but insulting affronts to the sacred priesthood which by God's grace each of us was granted. These are our grave sins against God Who has so graciously granted us His grace to stand at His Altar and before His people to be their priest and their example.
Beloved brothers in the Lord, concelebrants at the most-sacred Altar of our Lord Jesus Christ, it is time for each of us to prayerfully reassess our public and private behavior and to conform ourselves, our behavior, and our thinking to the tradition and mind of the Church.
The words of Saint Paul to his disciple, the Apostle Timothy, apply to each of us today, maybe even moreso in this post-Christian secular age than at any time before:
"... be an example to the believers, in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity." (1 Timothy 4:12)
These are the words which a contemporary Orthodox Christian emperor, Tsar Nicholas II, had inscribed on the reverse of the crosses that all of his clergy were to wear, and that many of our brother priests in the Russian tradition wear to this day.
We as clergy are specifically ordained to stand apart from the laity, so as to provide just such an example to them in all things, at all times, and in every place, as well as to celebrate the Divine Services and Holy Mysteries.
Even the military has traditionally made a distinction between officer and enlisted, recognizing that the senior is responsible to provide an example of moral behavior and proper military conduct so as to be able to command their respect in battle. This is why, for instance, the officer is saluted, and officers live and eat apart from the enlisted. To be sure, one man is no better than any other man, for the fate of a battle and even a country depends upon the struggles of the lowly corporal and private as much as upon the guidance of their colonels and generals. But respect for good order and discipline is critical.
So it must be with you and among your parishioners. The faithful should be gently and lovingly taught why and how to show respect for the priesthood of Christ by respecting His clergy. Upon greeting a priest, a lay person asks for his blessing ("Evlogeite!" or "Father bless!"), and after receiving such, venerates the back of that hand which blesses him and gives him the Sacred Mysteries.
At luncheons, dinners, and banquets, the clergy should be the first to take their food or to be served. It goes without saying that the faithful wait for the priest to bless the meal before they begin to serve and eat. Likewise, at the end of a meal, the priest should be asked to give a final blessing.
In public, clergy should be seen as such; this means that we either wear the traditional anteri (cassock) or the western-style dark clergy shirt with collar. We are never "off duty," but rather we are priests who live the Christian life at all times and in every circumstance just as we encourage the faithful to do. Having said this, it is nonetheless understood as common sense that those few clergy who have been given the blessing to be employed in lay professions (especially the deacons) will wear the clothing appropriate to their occupation.
It is also obvious that appropriate clothing should be worn when you participate in exercise or other activities for your health. At the same time, clergy should not normally participate with parishioners in athletic activities; e.g., priest should not be swimming in the pool with children or young adults at Summer camps, etc. Common sense should prevail.
In general, I observe that many priests find it most comfortable to wear the anteri at the parish and the "collar" when "in the world" except for formal church functions. This seems to be a good norm. At the same time, it is certainly appropriate, and you are even encouraged to wear the anteri in public as a witness to our faith and tradition.
In regard to clergy attire in general, I refer you to my Protocol 98-8 dated July 16, 1998 which remains effective; if you need a copy of this Protocol, please contact my Chancellor, Father Luke. As I stated therein, both the "traditional" and the "western" practices of clergy attire and appearance are acceptable within this Metropolis with due regard being given to the pastoral circumstances and needs of your particular flock and the city or region in which you live. If you do choose to have long hair or beards, please remember that they are to be kept trimmed and neat. Remember that the Orthodox Church is not legalistic in observing its traditions, and certain flexibility is allowed so long as this is to the spiritual benefit of individuals as well as to the whole of the Church.
It is not inappropriate at a social gathering for a married clergyman to dance with his wife to a waltz or other such "ballroom" type song, and he may judiciously participate in "Greek dances" which generally express community and are not sexual or "mating rituals." A clergyman must not participate in "rock and roll" type dancing, especially with his parishioners and the laity in general. It perplexes me how a priest can do the "twist" or other modern, suggestive dances with a woman parishioner and then give her Holy Communion the next day or hear her confession. I do not know what those clergy who do these things must be thinking.
Clergy should discourage the use of endearing words used by the laity who address them. Likewise, they must avoid embraces and even the practice of social kissing. Not only do these words and practices breed familiarity, they can lead to contempt for the priestly office and, worse, to the temptation of falling into intimacy that is totally wrong.
Each of you also well realizes that in our litigious society even the most innocent physical contact can lead to scandal and worse. You must absolutely observe the practices normative to professional behavior in our culture with regard to any contact with the public.
Pastors must teach their faithful that parish social functions are not merely like any other events in the world. The Church must be a light to all, like a "city set on a hill" that calls us and encourages us to better behavior and a higher state of moral conduct than the norm in secular society. Men and women should be taught that tight, revealing, and sensually alluring clothing is inappropriate at parish dinners and dances. It goes without saying that such clothing is totally unsuitable for wearing in the church, whether or not one is participating in the services. I also notice many boys coming into the Holy of Holies to serve at the Altar who have unbuttoned shirts, shirts not tucked in, untied shoes, etc.; please encourage these young men to show a little extra respect for the church and for the sacred ministry in which they are allowed to participate; they must learn that participation at the Divine Services is "special," something above their other day-today activities.
The reason for the aberrant behavior and conduct of clergy that occasions the writing of this pastoral letter lies in a theologically incorrect notion about the place of the Church in the world and even of the ministry of Christ among sinners. It is true that the only-begotten Son became man and entered our fallen world, but He did so to raise us up and to transfigure our existence Ð not to endorse or participate in our fallen behavior. It is also obviously true that the Lord ate with sinners, but He did so to save them, not to become a sinner Himself like them.
So it is with the Church and Her clergy. The Church exists in the world to be the ark of salvation delivering man from this fallen existence to our true existence as inheritors of the Kingdom of heaven. It does not exist to be just another social gathering place or social action center like those in the world; rather in the fellowship activities and social welfare it provides, the parish does so with reference to its higher purpose and encouraging people to more Christ-like behavior.
There is a huge difference between embracing the sinner and embracing his sin, for we love the one and hate the other. Unfortunately some clergy and some parishes believe that we must embrace both to be "relevant" and effective witnesses in the world. This is utter nonsense. There are plenty of places in the world to behave like worldly people, but the Church and Her clergy must be examples of, and places to behave like people of, the higher, heavenly Kingdom of God.
The clergy are set aside and elevated to be as "living icons;" the bishop, and in his absence the presbyter, as the living icon of Christ and the deacon as a living icon of the Archangels that minister to God and His people. We exist in the world to be examples of Christian moral conduct and our behavior must at all times and everywhere be better than that of others. This, of course, is exactly as it is within our families: the parents, and especially the father, are not "friends" to their children nor their peers but set an example of adult behavior and good conduct for them. In fact, the position of the parish pastor is analogous to that of the father in the family; as clergy we are set apart and expected to be above the others in our behavior.
The principal and most distinctive characteristic of the priesthood is our sacramental ministry. We pray at each Liturgy during the Cherubic Hymn: "No one is worthy to approach or draw near ..." Nonetheless we must make ourselves as acceptable before God as we are able; we must regularly confess our sins to another priest, we must be models of forgiveness and patience, we must be examples to the believers in all virtues, and we must never do anything that tarnishes or diminishes our substance which becomes a living icon. It is specifically for this reason that for each of us before ordination to the diaconate our spiritual fathers wrote as a Symmartyria:
The ... Apostles and ... Fathers, who ordained divine things rightly, have canonically directed that no one shall be deemed worthy of the Holy Rank of the Priesthood without a thorough investigation and a careful investigation of him, lest the most-holy Mysteries be celebrated by those who are unworthy. ... And, having obtained information from other trustworthy persons who have firsthand knowledge of his conduct both public and in private, and having found nothing in him that would be an impediment ... I bear witness that he ... is worthy of the Office of the Priesthood.
It is incumbent upon us now, even more than at the long ago time of our ordination to the sacred diaconate, to make these words true in our lives. We must, as men, live up to our high calling as having been created in the image of God, struggling to live a Godly life. We must moreover fight against our earthly passions and endeavor to ever more closely emulate Christ the High Priest who has called us to His sacred ministry and to be His living icons.
I pastorally exhort you, as brothers and concelebrants, to take my words to heart. Ours is the highest calling among men. We must therefore act as though we have received that call with humble gratitude and the most profound respect for the priestly office. We will all be called to account before the fearsome judgment seat of Christ for every single act of our lives; we clergy will have to account for every act, known and unknown, willing and unwilling, that we did at all times and in every place as we struggle to live our lives in the truest image of His most-holy High Priesthood.
I know we are all capable of this. Our spiritual fathers attested to our ability when they wrote our Symmartyria, and the grace of the Holy Spirit which fills that which is lacking was poured out in great abundance upon us who knelt at the Holy Altar to receive ordination to this high calling.
With Paternal Blessings in the
Risen Lord, Our High Priest,
With Paternal Blessings,
+Metropolitan Isaiah of Denver